


A Thousand Times Before

by Quasi_Verbatim



Series: You Know What They Say [2]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Dysfunctional Family, Families of Choice, Grey! White Lotus, Politics maybe?, i have no idea what I'm doing with this, if anything
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-15
Updated: 2018-07-15
Packaged: 2019-06-10 23:15:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15302175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quasi_Verbatim/pseuds/Quasi_Verbatim
Summary: Not for the first time, an Avatar begins their journey. And not for the first time, it doesn't go quite as planned.A follow up to "You've Heard It Once"





	A Thousand Times Before

**Author's Note:**

> I've always had ideas for a multi-chaptered story based on my premise in "You've Heard It Once", and I wrote this as a sort of start to that story a long time ago, but I never wrote anything else. Eventually I just decided to post this one. It's been up on FFN for a while so I thought it was high time I moved it over here.
> 
> I still have those ideas kicking around my head, but I can't promise I'll ever put them to paper. Either way, let me know what you guys think.

Smoke furrowed out of every hut she passed, curling up into the air until her eyes couldn’t differentiate it from the sky. Its smell hung heavy though the encampment, drifting between the buildings on the empty pathways where she tread, stinging her nostrils and dragging tastes of bitterness and home across her tongue with every breath.

There was a quarter moon tonight, so there wasn’t much light to reflect off the snow, but the crystalline flakes still held that eerie blue glow that they do when the moon is at the high point in the sky.

 She walked towards the hut she’d been searching for, snow crunching under her boots, easily displaced by her weight. It was that time of year again, when the snow closest to the surface would get less dense, less unyielding; weaker.

She hated this time of year.

She loved water, but when it was below your feet, you’d prefer it was frozen too.

She stopped about a hundred yards away from the hut. It was dark out, but there was still light flickering inside and since the wind was calm she could hear voices too. She could hear familiar cadences, but not what was being said. They were only talking at a low murmur.

Then there was a silence.

That’s probably what sparked her movement, it was late and they might be going to bed soon, and she really didn’t want to force them to get up if they were already lying down.

“Stay here Naga,” she said to her polar bear-dog, giving her a reassuring scratch under the chin. The animal whined a little but stayed put.

She took a deep breath before putting one foot in front of the other, making fast purposeful strides towards the door and only hesitated momentarily before knocking on a piece of bone holding up part of the hut.

Feeling awkward, she took a step back, tossing a look over her shoulder at Naga who was lying down, staring intently back at her. She felt her shoulders relax a bit.

Then the flap was pushed open.

 “Hello?”

She whipped her head around and the woman in the opening stared uncomprehendingly at her for a moment.

The woman had frown lines that Korra didn’t remember being there the last time she saw her, but she looked less haggard, less frantic, and simply…better than she ever remembered her looking.

 The woman’s eyes widened.

“Korra?”

The rough fricative tones of her native tongue sounded foreign to her ears and tasted bitter as it spilled clumsily from her lips.

 “Hi…Mom.”

The tension was back in her shoulders.

After a few uncomfortable seconds of silence, during which she shifted uneasily from foot to foot, her mother blinked disbelievingly at her before looking over her shoulder, into the hut.

 “Tonraq!” She called out.

The response came from somewhere inside. “I’m coming, I’m coming…” and then her father’s hulking frame was in the doorway. “I was just…” his words trailed off when he caught sight of her. Shock registered on his face before it slid off into a blank look, like he couldn’t quite decide how to feel about her showing up. All things considered, he probably didn’t.

There was another awkward pause before he took a quick look at something behind him in the hut, “Let’s take this outside.”

Korra couldn’t help but wonder what he’d been looking back at, but her mother nodded and started moving out of the hut, and she decided she didn’t really want to think about it right then.

They made their way out of the hut towards Naga who perked up slightly, keeping a keen eye on her parents.

The polar bear-dog’s movement must have caught their eye, because she heard her mother make an odd choking noise and her father give a small shout. Hoping to show them that Naga didn’t pose a threat, she walked over to the polar bear-dog, and pulled them face to face. Naga, being the loveable pup that she was, gave her a big slobbery kiss. She couldn’t help but laugh a bit.

“Hey girl.”

When she turned around, her mother was half shoved behind her father, a limp strip of water hanging in the air, while both of them stared at her like she had just told them that the white lotus had made a mistake all those years ago and she in fact was NOT the avatar. Her face gave an odd twitch while she worked to hold back a snort of laughter.

“Her name’s Naga.” She didn’t bother to temper the smile on her face.

“A polar bear-dog?” Her mother asked in disbelief.

Her smile widened, “Yeah.” She gave Naga a scratch behind the ears for good measure. Korra heard her tail begin thumping the snow even while the polar bear-dog continued to level the animal equivalent of a distrustful glare at her parents. Her father seemed to catch that because he quickly dropped the water. Naga seemed to relax a bit, but she wasn’t sure what would happen if they asked to approach her.

They didn’t.

Another uncomfortable pause, one she spent patting Naga, who seemed to appreciate the ministrations. She was also trying to figure out what to say to her parents, but her mind was blank. Once again, her parents broke the silence.

“So how have you been?” That was her mother.

“Fine.” Her response was immediate and abrupt; she saw her mother wince and immediately felt guilty. She cleared her throat, “I’m doing well. And you?”

“Yes!” Her mom sounded eager to be having any form of civil conversation with her. “Yes, we are. Doing well, that is.” She looked embarrassed for her outburst.

Korra felt a pang in her chest, but she mentally scolded herself for her selfishness. What had she wanted? Them to tell her that their lives had been horrible without her?

_Yes._ A part of her replied, but she ignored it.

“Oh, that’s good!” Her smile felt as brittle as her voice.

“Yeah...”

Her mother was no longer hidden behind her father and her father was no longer in a defensive position.

That’s not to say he looked comfortable; he didn’t. Actually, he probably would _rather_ be dealing with a wild polar bear-dog than this. He was just standing there, staring at her.

It was then that she realized she was doing the same exact thing. She immediately averted her gaze, moving her eyes to her boot as she scuffed the snow a bit with it.

Finally he cleared his throat and spoke.

“You look…healthy.”

She flicked her eyes up at him; she couldn’t tell how he felt about that. She thought he looked vaguely pleased, but that might have just been wishful thinking.

She waited what was probably a beat too long before answering.

“Uh, thanks, yeah, I suppose I am.”

Another awkward silence; her mom kept glancing around like she was looking for something to talk about.

“So, _Naga_ ,” she said, her eyes latching onto the polar bear-dog “Why’d you named her ‘no’?”

Korra felt a smirk stretch her lips. “When I started training her I wound up saying ‘no’ to her more than her actual name… it just kind of stuck.”

“What made you, uh, decide to try to train a polar bear-dog?”

Korra gave a small shrug, not feeling particularly keen on giving the whole explanation, but responding anyways.

 “Oh, well… Naga was orphaned, so I just thought I’d… help her.”

“Oh! Well, that was nice of you.”

Korra shrugged again.

“How long have you had her?”

She inwardly winced at the question, and gave a purposefully unspecific response.

“A couple years.”

Her mother seemed a bit put out by the vague response, but what did she expect, they hadn’t seen each other in years!

“Korra,” her dad cut in abruptly “what are you doing here?”

That effectively reminded her that _she_ was the one who came to _them_.

It also helped her do what she’d come there to do.

She straightened her back and took a deep breath, “I’m leaving the South Pole to finish my training in Republic City.”

They were completely silent.

She coughed awkwardly, “I just figured you deserved to know.”

Her mother’s jaw worked soundlessly for a moment before she spoke, “Oh! Well, that’s wonderful! Just wonderful! Isn’t it Tonraq? Just, so-"

"wonderful.” Tonraq finished in a flat tone.

Her mother looked a bit overwhelmed, and Korra marveled at the fact that she was able to change her back into the same frazzled woman she recognized within only a few minutes of arriving.

Her train of thought was halted by her mother suddenly, and a bit awkwardly, hugging her.

The hug was tight and maybe a bit desperate, but it was the first time her mother had touched her in nearly a decade, and as she slowly snaked and arm around her mother, she closed her eyes and savored the moment for all that she could.

When they pulled away from one another, there was a tear on her mother’s cheek.

Korra's throat felt tight.

Her mother brushed the tear away and pulled her parka tighter around herself, “When are you leaving?

It was an understandable question. And maybe it was irrational, but it was also the kind of question that set her teeth on edge.

And she knew the answer to it:

“Now.”

“Oh!” her mother looked surprised, “that soon?”

“Yeah, I really should get going…”

Her mother genuinely looked upset by that.

“Well, I suppose there’s nothing to be done about that, is there.”

Korra shook her head.

“Then we should let you go.”

Korra felt a lurch in her chest at that.

She knew her mother meant that they wouldn’t hold her up any longer, but part of her wanted to yell at them and tell them that she didn’t need their _permission_ , that it was her choice and it had nothing to do with them. Another part of herself was too hollow to yell because if she were being honest with herself, her mother’s statement felt more permanent than she’d probably meant it to be.

Her mother took a step back, pulling her parka even tighter around herself before her father snuck an arm over her shoulder, giving her a squeeze and a kiss on the head. Then he released her and stepped toward Korra.

She didn’t dare move.

He hesitated before bringing his hand, which still seemed just as massive as when she was a kid, to her shoulder. He looked pained again, and his hand was squeezing into her parka and kneading the skin and muscle beneath uncomfortably. After close to a minute of this, he finally looked her in the eye, and Korra was caught off guard by the dizzying mix of emotions held in them.

“Just- stay healthy alright?”

And then he was pulling away, moving back towards her mother. Toward a home and a life that she no longer fit into.

The tightening in her throat was painful now, so she just nodded.

She turned on her heel to Naga, climbed onto her back, and forced out a small,

“Bye.”

And with only one more look back, she took off on Naga into the night.

-~-

Korra made it to Harbor city a day and a half later. Luckily her old village had settled nearer to the city this season than they used to venture when she’d still lived there. That made the second leg of her trek a lot less dangerous than it could have been.

Her search for her old village on the other hand had taken far longer and was far more dangerous. There had been a storm and she hadn’t been near any shelter so she’d had to build herself some and just wait it out. Mercifully the storm had been relatively short, only sidelining her for a little over a day. Some of the worse storms had gone on for weeks, although storms of that magnitude really only happen in the winter, which they were rapidly moving away from.

When she’d told her parents that she was going to Republic City to complete her training, she hadn’t been lying, but she hadn’t exactly been giving them the whole story.

Her trip to Republic City wasn’t sanctioned by the White Lotus like the rest of her training had been. She wasn’t being _sent_ to Republic City, she was going there of her own volition, and against the orders of the White Lotus. She’d been hoping to be well on her way to Republic City before the White Lotus could gather search parties for her.

She’d had it planned out, but the trip to her old village had taken way longer than it should have.

She made a mental note to work on her planning skills.

If she had to guess, she’d say looking for her parents had added an extra two days onto her journey. More than enough time for the White Lotus sentries to have made it to Harbor city. The question now was if it was enough time for them to have decided she wasn’t there and have left. Somehow she didn’t think that was likely.

So, she couldn’t just go waltzing into the city on her polar bear-dog. That _might_ draw some unwanted attention.

She had to get to Republic City somehow though, and you don’t name a place Harbor City if they don’t have boats. As the capital and the only city of the South Pole, Harbor City is probably the only place on the entire continent that would have ships heading out to Republic City.

So, without any other options, she approached the city boundaries.

Though instead of entering, she followed along its walls, snorting derisively when she realized that the only guards they had stationed on them were at the entrances. They were easy enough to avoid.

She reached where the wall dropped off into nothing at the water’s edge and pulled her hood tightly over her head, preparing herself for the frozen waters below.

She hopped onto Naga’s back and double checked the ties that held her possessions to Naga’s saddle.

With a quick look behind her to check for any wandering guards, she leaned over her friends head and ran her fingers under her chin.

“Ready girl?” She whispered into her ears, “ Let’s go.”

Naga didn’t hesitate, and jumped straight into the arctic waters, but before they hit the surface, Korra made sure to bend the water around them so that when they submerged completely, there was a nice air pocket around them.

Naga was paddling as quickly as she could, but Korra knew they had to move faster. The air pocket didn’t cover their legs, and hers were already getting numb. Humans could only survive a few minutes in waters at these temperatures, and while it helped to be used to the cold, it only bought you another minute at best. If you were a bender, there were tricks you could use to prolong that time, but it was better if you just never went into the water at all.

Polar bear-dogs on the other hand, had double coated fur, which protected them from the water far better than any parka could protect a human. Polar bear-dogs were sometimes known to hunt for fish and seal-turtles in the sea when they were desperate for food, and could stay in the water for well past a half hour before they needed to get out.

With that thought in mind, Korra pulled her legs out of the water and sat cross-legged on Naga’s saddle, bending the water around them quickly to lessen their drag and propel Naga forward. Every minute or so, Korra would use her breath of fire to warm the air. She tried not to use much though, she didn’t want to burn through the air they had.

She guided Naga to the docks in the harbor and around the hulls of a number of ships. She knew the smaller wood and bone ships were for fishing, and the larger ones made of only wood were likely trade ships from the southern shores of the Earth kingdom. She saw a metal ship and it wasn’t narrow enough to be of Fire Nation design. It had a wide hull and the metal looked to be a lighter color than iron.

Korra tugged Naga’s reigns up, and she found herself next to one of the tallest ships she’d ever seen. And imprinted onto the side was a logo she recognized: Cabbage Corp, a business based out of republic city.

Korra smiled and gave her companion a pat on the head.

“I think we’ve found our ride girl.”

-~-

It was worryingly easy to sneak a polar bear-dog onto an international ship.

It was even easier to keep hidden once inside; not once during the voyage did anyone venture into the cargo hold. And Korra was quick to find out why.

Because it was at the bottom of the ship and the ship was made of metal, it was probably the coldest part of the ship. Even Naga seemed bothered by it after the first day or so.

Korra felt particularly lucky to be able to bend fire during that time. It kept them warm, and she always knew in her bones when the sun was out. The complete darkness was still a little disorienting though.

It also didn’t help that the seas were always rough, and none of the cargo was secured down there. She was hit by large shipping crates at least twice before she started paying more attention to her surroundings.

She’d light a flame in her palm every once in a while to check the movement of the crates and−if she were being honest with herself−to help keep her sane.

Going to the bathroom was also a bit tricky. There was nothing to really wipe with, and the best she could do was burn away the mess after she was done, which left a pretty nasty smell in the air and a very noticeable burn mark on the metal.

Naga was a whole other issue entirely. Korra never knew where or when the polar bear-dog might do her business, which made it near impossible to clean up her messes in the darkness. More than once Korra had stepped in, or rolled over on something she’d wish she hadn’t, but most times it was the smell that let her know she had something to clean up.

Naga was going stir crazy in the cargo bay with no change in scenery, and Korra had caught her more than once trying to get into the crates. Honestly, they we’re both going stir crazy, but she couldn’t let Naga make more of a mess of the place than they already had.

She’d at least been smart enough to bring food along with them. Most of it was from the White Lotus compound. Korra had made a point of saving most of it, and doing some hunting during their search for her village. All that was left of the few hare species she’d caught was the pelts, which Korra took the time to tan and dry because they’d been starting to stink.

It wasn’t much food, but it was enough to get them by for the trip.

At one point her curiosity, and maybe her hunger, got the better of her and she checked the crates to see what was inside. Cabbage didn’t grow in the South Pole, and so it was likely that whatever cabbage the ship had been hauling had been left behind in Harbor City, but she had no idea what was inside the crates that were there now. She spent nearly a whole day entertaining herself by finding out.

There were furs, and parkas, and trinkets, most of which had the northern water tribe symbol on them. She checked a couple, and they were definitely made with southern techniques. She shut those boxes quickly and loudly. The North apparently couldn’t be bothered to make their own novelties anymore.

More than anything else though, there were fish, mostly species that were native only to the South Pole. She knew from her lessons that these were the South Pole’s biggest trading commodity. It’s what kept the _civilized_  parts of the south, afloat.

There were large chunks of ice in the fish crates, and it occurred to her that maybe the cargo bay was this cold for a reason.

After a little more than a week’s journey, the cargo bay got significantly warmer, and the ice must have started to melt, because if she hadn’t known there were fish in those crates before, the smell would have let her know now.

With all of this happening around her, she still had way too much time with nothing to do but think. Think about her parents. About what her father had been looking at behind him in the hut. Was it Talaq, or Sekkena? Did they still live there? Did they even know she’d been there? Would they have wanted to see her if they had?

No matter how much she tried to stop herself, she couldn’t help but pick apart her own reactions to them. How nervous she’d been, how shaken. How it had taken her hours to calm down after leaving. How it had hurt when they hadn’t invited her inside. When they hadn’t asked her to stay.

She knew it was wrong of her to wish they had, to be angry at them for not trying to make her stay. She knew she’d have been furious if they had, because they had no right to. And they knew that, so they didn’t ask. She should be happy they didn’t; it would have caused her a lot of trouble she didn’t need right then if they had. She knew that, but it didn’t stop her from wishing her parents still cared.

Her chest throbbed when she thought about it, but she pushed the feeling away, because it was better this way. They all knew it, and it was selfish of her to want to have it both ways.

She tried not to think about it, but thinking was all there really was to do there.

It was a week and two days of her own personal hell.

Then the ship stopped.

Later that day, when the ship hands emptied the cargo bay, they noticed a number of scorch marks on the floor of the ship. One of the crew members swore they’d been there all along, and the rest didn’t care enough to argue. Nobody noticed the extra set of hare skins that had been added to one of crates.  
  
It was worryingly easy to sneak a polar bear-dog off of an international ship.

-~-

That night Korra arrived on Air Temple Island in sweat stained clothes, smelling of burnt shit, fish, and polar bear-dog.

Tenzin sighed like he was accepting a death sentence before agreeing to let her stay.

He grimaced at her smell when she hugged him and she couldn’t help but laugh and hold on a few more seconds just to mess with him.

The kids cheered and bended themselves onto her. Jinora and Ikki backed away almost immediately. Ikki was holding her nose making small retching noises, apparently Korra’s smell was strong enough to halt the barrage of questions that she was certain Ikki wanted to ask.

After initially jerking away, Jinora smiled at her, clearly trying to be polite.

“I’m glad you’re staying Korra.”

Korra smiled back.

“Me too.”

Ikki, apparently having gotten over her coughing fit, decided to add her two-cents.

“Yeah, but why do you smell so ba-“

Jinora glared at her sister and shot a burst of air at her, knocking the younger girl over and causing her to glare at her older sister.

Ikki pouted, “I’m glad you’re staying too.”

She didn’t sound particularly convincing, she was clearly more focused on glaring at her sister than she was greeting her, but Korra smiled at her all the same.

“Thanks Ikki.”

“Alright, let’s go inside and get washed up. Your mother will likely have dinner ready soon and I need to inform her that we will need to set another place.”

Korra jumped a bit, she hadn’t noticed Tenzin move up next to her. When she turned to look at him, he had a small smile on his face that made her think that he might not consider her staying with him to be a death sentence after all.

With a nod, he started walking up the winding path toward the buildings she could see peaking over the trees and cliff face.

The girls wandered close behind him, Ikki peaking over her shoulder every couple of seconds like she was worried Korra would get lost.

As Korra began walking up the path, she noticed that the youngest of the bending kids was still clinging to her. He hadn’t moved since he’d latched onto her and she’d almost forgotten he was there.  She’d never seen him stay so still for so long unless he was sleeping. He was latched onto her torso, nose buried in her neck, breathing deeply.

She suffered a few seconds of indecision before mentally shrugging and securing an arm around him. She called Naga to follow her before continuing after the group of air benders.

When they got to the island proper, Tenzin slowed down before addressing her.

“Naga can stay in the stable with the sky bison as long as she doesn’t terrorize them.”

Korra rolled her eyes.

“If you’re really worried that Naga is dangerous than why do you let your kids play with her?”

People usually reacted to Naga with a healthy dose of uncertainty, but Tenzin had known Naga for years. If he really didn’t trust her, that would be a bit insulting to both the polar bear-dog and its trainer.

“Animals act differently around each other than they do around humans, especially if they’ve spent more time around people than around other animals.”

Tenzin made his point calmly and with his usual poise. It was easy to see why he was a politician. While Korra was absolutely certain that he didn’t mean to do anything but point out the facts to her, Korra couldn’t help the pang of guilt that shot through her.

Naga was supposed to be wild and free, she should have lived her life out in the vast tundra as one of its top predators. Instead she’d been locked up with her in what was maybe a mile wide compound.

Korra looked over her shoulder at the sprawling metropolis behind her, its thousands of lights twinkled while the sky above it was darker than she’d ever seen it. It was like the city’s cramped streets and tall buildings had stolen the stars right out of the sky. It was just as beautiful, but she couldn’t help feeling a bit unsettled looking at a city of fallen stars.

She heard Naga’s claws clack against the stone of the pavilion as she shifted from side to side, and she swallowed down the guilt.

“You hear that girl, you gotta play nice, no messing around.”

Naga made a small chuffing noise in the back of her throat in acknowledgement.

Tenzin cleared his throat.

“Alright then, I can walk you to the stables, they’re just over-“

“I can take Korra to the stables Daddy!”

Before he even got a chance to respond, Ikki shot past Korra, moving in the opposite direction of the house they had been about to enter.

Ikki was just about to wind around a stand of trees and move out of site when she stopped and called back.

“Come _on_ slow poke!”

Korra shot a look at Tenzin who just waved her on.

“Go on, you don’t want her to get tired of waiting, you won’t hear the end of it for the rest of the night.”

She hesitated for only a second more, trying to decide if she could possibly divest the sleepy air bender that still clung to her chest−onto Tenzin. Like he knew what she was thinking, Meelo chose that moment to tighten his hold on Korra causing her to roll her eyes. It looked like she was stuck with him for now.

She made her way over to Ikki, who apparently couldn’t just tap her foot in impatience like a normal person, but rather bounced her whole body from side to side like she was containing herself from running ahead without her or Naga.

“It’s about _time_. Were you waiting for the next avatar to come around?”

Ignoring that particularly uncomfortable−and impossible−train of thought, Korra and her faithful companion followed the bouncing ball of energy the rest of the way to the stables.

As Ikki went about cooing at each of the young air bison in their pens, Korra kept an eye out for an empty enclosure for her friend.

It didn’t take too long to find one that had ample hay to use as a bed.

It wasn’t as big as the stall provided for her at the White Lotus compound, but Naga seemed too tired to mind. She lumbered into the pen and only circled around once before dropping gracelessly into the hay.

Korra approached her friend and after shuffling Meelo awkwardly into a more comfortable position for her, quickly untied her belongings from Naga and placed the small sack to the side.

She began scratching Naga slowly just above one of her ears.

“I know this trip has been hard for you, but I couldn’t have done it without you, so thanks for coming along girl. I know it’s a lot warmer here than we’re used to, but that means that the water is warmer here too, so we can go on a bunch of swims to cool off.”

Naga’s eyes had slid shut almost immediately after Korra started rubbing the slow circles on her brow, but she still managed to make a low contented growl in response.

“Alright, I’ve got to get back to the humans now, but I’ll come see you tomorrow morning right when I get up and we’ll explore the island and go for a swim as soon as we get the chance. I promise.”

After making one particularly slow circle on Naga’s brow, Korra leaned forward and placed her forehead on the polar bear-dog’s snout. Naga’s eyes shot open and stared straight into Korra’s vibrant blues.

“Goodnight Naga-girl.” She whispered quietly.

Naga’s eyes slid shut and Korra could feel the polar bear-dog’s breath flutter warmly against her neck as she let out one long exhale through her wet nose. The feel of it made Korra smile.

Even though part of her just wanted to stay there with her friend for a while, she knew she needed to get up.

So she did. It didn’t take much convincing to get Ikki moving and before she knew it, she had her bag slung over one shoulder, a bender clinging to her chest, and they were back at the house with Ikki tearing ahead of her, barely remembering to help show her the way.

When they entered the building, the smell of food hit her in a wall of misty goodness and she heard as much as felt her stomach growl.

They moved passed a sitting room and a stairway before she watched Ikki disappear into another room around the corner. She had just followed the young bender into what was clearly the dining room when a door attached to the room slid open, allowing Tenzin, Pema, and a number of enticing smells into the room.

Pema look more frazzled than she had just a few short weeks ago, but she immediately smiled warmly at Korra.

“Hello Korra, I can show you to your quarters if you’d like. Dinner won’t be ready for a little while longer, so you’ll have some time to wash up and change. I understand you’ve had a long day.”

Pema’s voice was warm and welcoming; although Korra was pretty sure her offer to wash up was more than a suggestion.

“Uh, yeah, thanks, that sounds good.”

Then she looked down at the bundle of bender that was currently on her chest.

“Uhm, is there somewhere I should put him, I think he’s asleep.”

“I’m not asleep!” Came the voice muffled by her shoulder.

That caught her off guard.

“So... then what are you doing?” She asked, at a bit of a loss.

“I’m smelling you.”

She looked back at Pema who had an exasperated look on her face.

Little hands tightened on her shirt and his face was pushing further into her neck while he took one long loud sniff.

Then his head whipped back and he looked her straight in her eyes. He squinted at her, or maybe he was trying to glare, she wasn’t sure, but he didn’t break eye contact for a full minute.

Then he sent her a winning smile.

“You smell _horrible_.” He informed her, clearly impressed.

“ _Meelo!_ ” Pema admonished.

At that moment he thrust his feet into her stomach and launched himself off of her with a blast of air. The action took her by surprise and she had to take a step back, firmly planting her feet into the ground to keep steady.

“It’s okay Mama.” He said bouncing his way over to Pema and bending himself up to plant a sloppy kiss on her cheek “You smell too!”

His face screwed up in concentration.

“…but, I think Korra wins.”

Tenzin let out a long suffering sigh while Pema just shook her head before making her way towards the doorway Korra had just entered.

Pema waved one hand towards Korra, her other hand supporting her bulging stomach, signaling for her to follow, but before the older woman exited the room, she turned back towards Meelo, who was watching them with a big happy smile on his face.

“You know Meelo, your father is actually even smellier than I am. You should ask him how to harness the power of smell for your bending. He once told me it was the strongest and most noble of all air bending practices.”

Meelo’s head snapped towards his father so quickly it looked like it could have fallen off. He looked at his father with awe.

Tenzin looked scandalized.

Pema bowed her head reverently before making a quick exit of the room.

Korra didn’t bother holding back her snort of laughter while she stumbled after Pema into the hallway.

The woman looked back at her with a self-satisfied smile on her face.

Korra’s smile grew and Pema winked at her before turning her attention to the stairs they were beginning to climb up.

Korra sidled up beside her, looking to help the pregnant woman up the stairs, but Pema just waved her off.

“You’re a good avatar, but I think I can make it up the stairs on my own for a while yet.”

Korra was tired, hungry, and smellier than she could ever remember herself being, but as Tenzin began sputtering somewhere behind her, she couldn’t help but think that she just might wind up liking it here.

**Author's Note:**

> Also, if anyone wants to write something based off my ideas, feel free to use them!


End file.
